The invention relates to an adapter for positioning of contact tips. The adapter has a location surface for locating a contact tip as well as a base element with a base. This base is used for setting the adapter on a mounting surface. A positioning element that is mobile relative to the base element is in mechanical contact with the base element so that the location surface can be positioned relative to the base in at least one direction by means of the positioning element.
Adapters of this kind are used for precise positioning of all varieties of contact tip which, according to their application, establish a locally restricted electrical, mechanical or thermal contact with a component. This kind of precise contacting is necessary in all varieties of applications, in particular microelectronics.
Positioning mechanisms that use micrometer screws or X-Y cross tables are known there in particular for positioning of probe tips on the contacts of semiconductor components to be tested. Although such position mechanisms allow highly precise positioning, they are not suitable for continuous flow testing in ongoing production in terms of their time requirement for each individual positioning, their space requirement and their costs. Such complex mechanisms are not always needed where one-off positioning of one or more contact tips relative to a fixed point is carried out and is used for a large number of identical contact tips in that the components to be contacted are positioned with a high level of reproducibility relative to this fixed point.
As several contacts are to be established simultaneously in most applications when testing semiconductor components, including on an industrial scale, and these contacts have a defined position in relation to each other, the positioning of the contact tips in relation to each other is particularly important in these cases. For this purpose, the contact tips are fixed on probe cards in the corresponding position in relation to each other, and these probe cards are used in isolation or on the wafer in the testing arrangement relative to the mounting of the component to be tested. For industrial production testing, the individual probe tips and the probe cards are standardised for the various applications, in particular high-frequency (HF) and direct current (DC) probe tips. The probe cards are mostly disc-shaped insulation carriers that are equipped with the necessary components and devices for electrical contacting of the probe tips and with a mechanically stable, mostly metallic supporting ring for installation in the testing station.
The probe tips are mounted on the probe cards with suitable adapters, mostly in the form of simple geometric dies or base plates, and positioned relative to each other. This assembly does not allow subsequent adjustment of the position. If fingerlike DC probe tips are assembled in this way, adjustment of the tips relative to each other is possible to a limited extent by bending the probe tips. However, if comb-shaped HF probe tips are used, the shape of the tips precludes this possibility, and assembly itself can only be performed with a high degree of precision, mostly only on specially equipped workstations. As the necessary mechanical contacting causes a high level of wear in continuous flow testing, this procedure must be performed regularly for renewing the probe tips, involving a large amount of time and expenditure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,159 describes a micropositioner in which, depending on the number of necessary positioning directions, a corresponding number of plates are arranged, each of which are moved against each other in the corresponding direction. The moving of an individual plate is effected by means of a mechanical impulse of a piston based on the necessary movement, which piston is arranged in a mobile manner in a cylinder and is moved by means of pressurised air. As a result of the fixed connection of the cylinder with the respective plate, the impulse is transferred to the plate. One disadvantage here is the need for a pneumatic system with the corresponding number of separate connections and a complex, separate or adjustable channel route up to each piston. The space requirement for the cylinder and the piston, which must always have a minimum dimension and be moveable along a minimum distance in order to generate the necessary impulse, is obstructive. This particularly applies if a large number of probe tips are to be placed next to each other on a probe card.